Week #1-TIME & TECHNIQUES

PART ONE

TIME & TECHNIQUES   (PART ONE)

This meal took less than 20 minutes to make. 

One thing I hear a lot from would-be cooks is, “What do I do first? 

The answer is, use a purposeful thought process. 

I asked myself how long each item will take to complete.  (Sometimes I even write this information on my menu.)  The item with the longest prep time in this meal was the baked potato (13 minutes). So, I had that cooking before anything else.  

Next, it was the Salad*(9 minutes), believe it or not.

Third, the fillet (7 minutes).

Finally, the peaches (1.5 minutes).  They only needed to be opened, removed from their juice, and plated.

TECHNIQUES

SET GOALS

Goals I had in mind when I considered what to make for this foray into my Substack career were fairly simple.  Since I would be eating said meal, it needed to be delicious. And because my body is a temple, it had to be nutritious.  In order to actually reach those goals, there were several necessary things I needed to do.

PLAN MEAL THOUGHTFULLY

The meal had to be envisioned (I’m trying not to say, “well-thought-out”).   Anyway, a one-meal “menu” was the trick.  Since I have almost completely cut beef out of my diet, I was craving it. So, I put that down front and center.  Being the rarity beef had become, I didn’t want to take any chances—this had to be great.  I quickly settled the issue—Fillet Mignon it was!

I knew going forward with a fillet would put me over my per-serving cost limit, so my second most frugal choice fell to a salad. (My most frugal choice is water—lots of water.)

Sidenote:  Salads can be an entire meal.  They can also be costly.  They can also take inordinate amounts of time to make.  But, not this one.

This salad just needed to highlight the privilege of eating something very special on a simply ordinary day, just because. Oh, and at the same time, reach the other goals of being nutritious, taking ten minutes or less than to make, cost next-to-nothing, and to be attractive.  Easy-peasy. 

This “arrangement of chilled Romaine leaves with fresh red tomato wedges, lightly salted,” made it all happen.  I love it when a plan comes together!

PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK heartily, and OFTEN

*HOW TO CHILL LETTUCE:

To chill lettuce (and other leafy vegetables) submerge cleaned, trimmed leaves in a large bowl of ice water and let it float a minute or two, just before serving.  Then, shake (or dry) them as desired, to remove the bulk of the icy water.  I love it when there are still a few beads of water glistening on the leaves, ready to provide a tiny burst of cool (literally) refreshment to the lettuce.

20 minute timeline

4:00: Prep potato and place in microwave for 5 minutes.

4:04: (1) Prep tomato 

         (2) Pre-heat small cast-iron (or heavy-bottomed) frypan 

         (3) Turn potato and place in microwave for 5 more minutes

        (4) Season fillet

4:13: Prep pan and Grill Fillet 

4:17: Rest fillet in pan, but off burner (do not cover)

4:18:  Dish out Peaches

4:19:  Plate and Serve

Tomorrow’s article will be on more techniques (part two).  

 

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